Fostering Equality and Inclusion: Exploring Zakat Governance Empowerment in Higher Educational Institution

Abstract

The significant role of the university's Zakat Centres in higher education institutions (HEI) in addressing the needs of university students has been acknowledged and discussed in the previous studies. The challenging and competitive of zakat management has called for greater scrutiny to identify the secret recipe for Zakat Centres to excel in managing zakat funds. Thus, it is crucial to understand the approach that can enhance the effectiveness of zakat management. This study aims to explore the current Zakat governance practice and identify the challenges faced by Zakat Centres in HEIs. Qualitative methods are employed in this study through interview sessions with the top management and zakat committees of the HEI's Zakat Centre. The study's findings highlight six critical aspects of zakat governance practised such as advertisement of zakat aids, acceptance of application, application screening, approval of zakat application, distribution of zakat assistance and reporting. The challenges faced by the university's zakat centre also has been discussed in this study. Finally, the study provides the significant contributions of zakat towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 10 in reducing inequalities through providing financial assistance to the student asnaf.